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Promised San Joaquin County water source springs a leak; Auburn Dam water rights get a hearing

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 22, 2008 at 9:25 pm

From Stockton’s Record:

An ever-thirstier San Joaquin County has been told for more than half a century to take a drink from the American River, where the federal government planned a new dam to capture and store snowmelt. But the Auburn Dam, the long-awaited source of surface water that our area needed, never happened.

Now the state, in a final blow, may kill the federal government’s rights to take any more water from the river. That water was to be shared with three counties, including San Joaquin. The dam and canal to send the water south were never finished.

Local officials testified Monday that they still need the water and asked that the water rights be preserved a few more years. “This has long been promised to the county by the state and federal government, and it’s a commitment that should be honored,” Mel Lytle, water resources coordinator for the county, told the State Water Resources Control Board.

Auburn Dam, started in 1972, was delayed three years later after an earthquake. Then the cost soared above what Congress was willing to pay.

Much has changed since the dam was first proposed. The Delta has deteriorated. Environmentalists say the state has promised more water than can be delivered.

Stockton environmentalist Bill Jennings told the board he was 26 years old, weighed 150 pounds and had “flaming red hair” when the Auburn Dam water rights were issued. Today his beard is a snowy white. “This morning, my shower diverted more water” than has been put to use in all those years, he said.

“The Auburn Dam project is dead,” Jennings said. “The corpse needs to be buried.”

Not necessarily so, say others, and for different reasons. Read more from Stockton’s Record by clicking here.

Even without a dam, San Joaquin County could contract with the federal government to take American River water from another location - perhaps Freeport on the Sacramento River, where local officials are already pursuing water through a separate process.

“The county is not proposing to build Auburn Dam,” attorney DeeAnne Gillick said at Monday’s hearing.

Rather, local officials asked for about three years to negotiate a water contract with the Bureau of Reclamation and find a way to get the water on their own.

July 22, 2008 · Filed Under Water Rights, Water Storage

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